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Daily Heartlight

Today's Verse

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Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the LORD.

—Leviticus 19:32

Thoughts on Today's Verse...

In an age where respect is little known and even less practiced, showing honor for those who are older is often overlooked. Yet in this place, by the LORD's own word, showing respect for the elderly ranks right up there with reverencing God. But then we shouldn't be surprised, since God made honoring parents the very first commandment (in the Ten Commandments — Exodus 20) directed at our relationship with others — the first four commandments were directed at our relationship with him!

My Prayer...

Holy and Eternal God, thank you for my parents in the flesh and in the faith. Please give those who have been my spiritual mentors a special blessing. Without their guidance, I'm not sure where I would have ended up. Help me as I grow older to not only mature, but to also gain the character that will be needed by those whom you have placed before me to influence. May we, young and old alike, restore dignity and respect to our relationships before you in our generation. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Today's Verse KJV

Same devotional as above but using the King James Version.

God's Holy Fire

A daily devotional about the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

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For anyone who refused to obey the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Just think how much worse the punishment will be for those who have trampled on the Son of God, and have treated the blood of the covenant, which made us holy, as if it were common and unholy, and have insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit who brings God's mercy to us.

—Hebrews 10:28-29 NLT

Key Thought

Sin can become so ingrained that it can lead us to spurn grace, treat as unimportant the sacrifice of Jesus, and insult the Holy Spirit who brings us God's mercy and empowers us to become more and more like Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:18). To ignore God, to ignore the messages of the Holy Spirit, is unthinkable. Yet some of us do it each day because we have lost sight of the high cost God paid to redeem us from sin and lost sight of the love God has for each one of us!

Today's Prayer

O Father, forgive me for taking your grace for granted and not appreciating the high cost you paid to bring me into your family. Thank you for your Spirit who is alive in me and is transforming me to be more and more like Jesus, in whose name I pray. Amen.

What Jesus Did!

A 365 day trip through each of the Gospel accounts of Jesus.

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[Continuing the tale of the two sons, Jesus said, "So the younger son who had wasted all his money] returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. His son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.' But his father said to the servants, 'Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.' So the party began."

—Luke 15:20-24 NLT

Key Thought

I love the sentence, "And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming." The father was longing for his son to return. He was waiting for his son to return. He was ready for his son to return. Our Father in heaven is filled with love and compassion for us. He sees our hearts and runs to meet us when we turn our hearts toward home — no matter how far we may have strayed. How far is your heart from the Father? I'm not talking about how things look on the outside to others. The Father's concern is with your heart. Is it turned toward him? Is it open and honest with him about your rebellion and sin? He is not looking to punish you, but to bring you home — to bring you back to life, to have the welcome-home party begin.

Today's Prayer

Loving God and compassionate Father, thank you for knowing me and loving me. Look into my heart and examine my innermost thoughts. I am sorry for my sin. Help me recognize my sins and change my ways through your strength and guidance. Thank you for making me a welcome child in your house and drawing me close to you. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.

Passion for Praise

A daily devotional featuring a passage of Scripture that emphasizes praise to our God.

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Sing with joy for Israel. Shout for the greatest of nations! Shout out with praise and joy: "Save your people, O LORD, the remnant of Israel!" For I will bring them from the north and from the distant corners of the earth. I will not forget the blind and lame, the expectant mothers and women in labor. A great company will return! Tears of joy will stream down their faces, and I will lead them home with great care. They will walk beside quiet streams and on smooth paths where they will not stumble.

—Jeremiah 31:7-9

Quotemeal

A daily dose of quotes for Christians to inspire and encourage.

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"I'm not suggesting that we have the power to heal physical conditions with our human fingers. But I do believe there's a healing of the spirit that takes place when we touch others. There's a comfort that can't be found anywhere else but in a touch or a hug. Somehow, God's love and power is shared with others through the simplicity of our physical touch."

—Amy Nappa

Morning & Evening

Charle's Spurgeon's classic devotional.

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"He shall not be afraid of evil tidings."

—Psalms 112:7

Morning Thought

Christian, you ought not to dread the arrival of evil tidings; because if you are distressed by them, what do you more than other men? Other men have not your God to fly to; they have never proved his faithfulness as you have done, and it is no wonder if they are bowed down with alarm and cowed with fear: but you profess to be of another spirit; you have been begotten again unto a lively hope, and your heart lives in heaven and not on earthly things; now, if you are seen to be distracted as other men, what is the value of that grace which you profess to have received? Where is the dignity of that new nature which you claim to possess?

Again, if you should be filled with alarm, as others are, you would, doubtless, be led into the sins so common to others under trying circumstances. The ungodly, when they are overtaken by evil tidings, rebel against God; they murmur, and think that God deals hardly with them. Will you fall into that same sin? Will you provoke the Lord as they do?

Moreover, unconverted men often run to wrong means in order to escape from difficulties, and you will be sure to do the same if your mind yields to the present pressure. Trust in the Lord, and wait patiently for him. Your wisest course is to do as Moses did at the Red Sea, "Stand still and see the salvation of God." For if you give way to fear when you hear of evil tidings, you will be unable to meet the trouble with that calm composure which nerves for duty, and sustains under adversity. How can you glorify God if you play the coward? Saints have often sung God's high praises in the fires, but will your doubting and desponding, as if you had none to help you, magnify the Most High? Then take courage, and relying in sure confidence upon the faithfulness of your covenant God, "let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

Daily Wisdom

Biblical passages featuring wisdom for your walk.

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Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

—Ephesians 4:2

Daily Wisdom KJV

Same devotional as above but using the King James Version.

Praying with Paul

Daily prayers inspired by the writings of the Apostle Paul.

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Hebrews 4:13

Dear Father, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent,

Help me to follow your teachings and live my life according to your will even in unusual or seemingly unimportant circumstances. O Lord, from you nothing is hidden; all things are open and laid bare before your eyes, and to you we give an account of our actions.

Let my inmost thoughts and my most secret deeds, which you see and judge anyway, be done in righteous adherence to your teaching, and with a pure heart. And forgive me when I am forgetful or negligent. And if there is rebellion in my spirit, turn me around through your chastisement, that I may turn back to you.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

A Year with Jesus

A yearly study written using the 'voice' of Jesus (first-person narrative).

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Note from Jesus

Dear Faithful Follower,

Today's verses are different selections from chapter 7 of Paul's letter to Christians in Rome. In previous parts of the letter, he had written about grace being made available through:

My sin-offering on the cross (Romans 3).

Your faith in My sacrifice for your sins being credited to you as righteousness (Romans 4).,

My sacrifice given for you out of the Father's loving grace, not because you deserved it (Romans 5).

My saving death, burial, and resurrection where you died to sin through your baptism into My death because of your faith (Romans 6).

Paul wanted you to know that as a baptized believer saved by grace you are dead to sin and alive to live for God as His righteous child.

But how?

How will you live for God righteously?

How will you live up to the Father's demands to be righteous as His child?

Will you use law-keeping to try to be considered righteous? That was the easy answer for those who grew up living under the Mosaic law. So in today's verses, Paul explained that any attempt to be considered righteous by living under a law — any law, but especially the Mosaic law — is ineffective to obtain righteousness before God. While the Law was a precious gift and it points out the righteousness the Father demands, it has no power to change you and make you holy without My sacrifice.

Paul wanted to help you understand that law-keeping cannot make you righteous. The problem is not the law — it is holy and just; the problem is the deceptive power of sin that takes the law and uses it to lead you to sin. Your fleshly nature — "living in the flesh," also called "the fallen human realm, owned by sin" — "awakened [y]our lust for more" sin.

While My sacrifice saves you from sin and death, if you try to be righteous by law-keeping, you end up "absolutely miserable" and in bondage to sin once again! You do what you do not want to do — you fall back into sin again and again. Sin "owns you" and "has taken up residence in" you. The only relief is to remember that you died to sin and to the whole law-keeping way of trying to be righteous and that you can rely on the Holy Spirit to lead you to righteous living. Paul said it this way:

But now that we have died to those chains that imprisoned us, we have been released from the law to serve in a new Spirit-empowered life, not the old written code.

(The Spirit's power will be the focus in tomorrow's verses.)

The Father's grace brings you salvation and righteousness by providing the sin offering (My death on the cross) that atoned for your sin and by giving you the Holy Spirit to empower you to righteous living. Everything about your salvation is a gift, so don't try to earn your salvation or think yourself superior because you obey the law, any law. Recognize that the Father's grace is the only way you stand before Him as His righteous child!

Verses to Live

Pay attention as you read these verses. They remind you that you are dead to the whole law-keeping principle because obeying the law cannot save you. Your fleshly nature and sin's deceptive power to use the law to trip you up lead you back to the principles of sin and death. Your faith in My sacrifice for your sins and the indwelling Spirit's power to help you become the person you want to be, provide your only way to live righteously as the Father's child.

My brothers and sisters who are well versed in the law, don't you realize that a person is subject to the law only as long as he is alive? So, for example, a wife is obligated by the law to her husband until his death; if the husband dies, she is freed from the parts of the law that relate to her marriage.

...

My brothers and sisters, in the same way, you have died when it comes to the law because of your connection with the body of the Anointed One. His death — and your death with Him — frees you to belong to the One Who was raised from the dead so we can bear fruit for God. As we were living in the flesh, the law could not solve the problem of sin; it only awakened our lust for more and cultivated the fruit of death in our bodily members. But now that we have died to those chains that imprisoned us, we have been released from the law to serve in a new Spirit-empowered life, not the old written code.

So what is the story? Is the law itself sin? Absolutely not! It is the exact opposite. I would never have known what sin is if it were not for the law.

...

There was a time when I was living without the law, but the commandment came and changed everything: sin came to life, and I died. This commandment was supposed to bring life; but in my experience, it brought death. Sin took advantage of the commandment, tricked me, and exploited it in order to kill me. So hear me out: the law is holy; and its commandments are holy, right, and good.

...

This is what we know: the law comes from the spiritual realm. My problem is that I am of the fallen human realm, owned by sin, which tries to keep me in its service.

...

I know that in me, that is, in my fallen human nature, there is nothing good. I can will myself to do something good, but that does not help me carry it out. I can determine that I am going to do good, but I don't do it; instead, I end up living out the evil that I decided not to do. If I end up doing the exact thing I pledged not to do, I am no longer doing it [myself] because sin has taken up residence in me [and is causing me to do it].

...

I am absolutely miserable! Is there anyone who can free me from this body where sin and death reign so supremely? I am thankful to God for the freedom that comes through our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One! So on the one hand, I devotedly serve God's law with my mind; but on the other hand, with my flesh, I serve the principle of sin.
(Romans 7:1-2; Romans 7:4-7; Romans 7:9-12; Romans 7:14; Romans 7:18-20; Romans 7:24-25)

Special Note:
Today's verses end with a somewhat negative tone. The next verses, which will be included tomorrow, have a completely different and incredibly positive tone as Paul will begin his discussion of life in the Spirit and the relief for the predicament stated in these last verses.

Response in Prayer

O Father, thank You for Your grace! I am saved by Your grace. I am sustained by Your grace. I am transformed by Your grace. I have access to Your presence because of Your grace. Thank You for Your grace. Without Your grace, I know I would be without hope. In the name of Christ Jesus, I thank You. Amen.

Spiritual Warfare - God's Power for Our Battles

A daily devotional about spiritual warfare.

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It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith.

—Hebrews 11:7 NLT

Today's Prayer

Lord, I know that Noah had a saving faith. It led him to listen and obey, honoring You through his obedience, and even causing You to count it as righteousness. I want to have that kind of saving faith. Help me to be diligent and committed in my daily walk with You. Help me to honor You, obey You, and follow the examples of Jesus. Help me to separate myself from the wicked ways of the world around me and learn to heed Your warnings. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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